Tuesday, August 26, 2008

An 18-year-old who, along with his mother, lost custody of his two dogs after authorities found signs of bestiality, was arrested Monday after detectives found at least eight other videos on his computer of little girls performing sexual acts with grown men, an arrest report said Monday.

In April, Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives raided the Palm Beach Gardens apartment the teen shared with his mother and seized three computers.

On them, authorities found a videotape showing the suspect when he was 17 having sex with his 4-year-old German shepherd. The teen told detectives that he made the video, that it was him having sex with the dog and that he'd done this only one time. But in a civil trial in the case, the teen's mother testified that her son told her he'd had sex with the dog four times, the report said.

Authorities said there was reason to believe the teen's 8-year-old shepherd also had been abused and took away both dogs and two cats. A county judge permanently barred both mother and son from ever owning animals.

The case sparked renewed calls in May for the state to outlaw bestiality, though lawmakers failed to support a bill this year.

The Sun Sentinel is not identifying the teen because of his age when, authorities say, the German shepherd video was made.

On Monday he was charged with one count of cruelty to animals, two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child and seven counts of possessing photographs of sexual performance by a child.